Changing & Adapting to the Home Environment to Stay Healthy

The home environment can promote or discourage individuals from adopting healthy habits. In a study conducted by Kegler et al. (2016), we learn about the importance of structuring one’s living environment and the benefits of individual coaching for engaging in the recommended 150 minutes of moderate intensity and muscle-strengthening physical activity per week.

A total of 349 African-American women aged on average more than 50 years old, mostly overweight or obese, participated in this study (p. 148). Their homes were first evaluated to determine how any available space could be used for exercising using the “social cognitively based home environment assessment profiles” (p. 144). Based on these evaluations, about half of these patients benefited from the services of local coaches who helped each one of them organize an area in their “home or yard” for exercising, while promising to “using it at least once a week” (p. 144). The local coaches made “3 home visits and 4 coaching calls over 16 weeks” (p. 144).

​In the homes of the women who benefited from these services, there was a significant increase in “exercise equipment in a visible location” (p = .006) at 6 months and at 12 months (p. 149). More spaces were created for exercise in their homes and yards (p. 149). These women engaged more frequently in physical activity (p. 149). More significantly, the time they spent being physically active and controlling the quality and amount of food they were ingesting helped them lose some unnecessary weight (p. 148). On average, they lost 9.1 pounds at 6 months and slightly less pounds 12th months later (P = .03) (p. 148).

In sum, the home environment matters when it comes to your health! Make the changes by yourself or find help in adapting the space where you live for getting more physical activity to stay healthy. If you have any ideas, please share them with us in the comments section.

Reference

1. Kegler, M. C., Haardörfer, R., Alcantara, I. C., Gazmararian, J. A., Veluswamy, J. K., Hodge, T. L., ... & Hotz, J. A. (2016). Impact of improving home environments on energy intake and physical activity: A randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Public Health, 106(1), 143-152. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2015. 302942